


Meet Cute

by lea_hazel



Series: Rabbaroo Cafe [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shop, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, F/F, Male-Female Friendship, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-22
Updated: 2013-02-22
Packaged: 2017-12-03 06:01:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/694985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lea_hazel/pseuds/lea_hazel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra meets a pretty girl and Bolin can't mind his own business.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meet Cute

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EllieMurasaki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieMurasaki/gifts).



It all happened because Mako had to take that second job.

Living in Republic City is expensive, the rent alone could eat up all three of their salaries and leave nothing for utilities or groceries. Korra's scholarship covered her tuition and textbooks, but RCU's school of airbending had no dormitories so whoever didn't have family in the city was flat out of luck. Her parents had labored under the misapprehension that she would be living with her tutor's son, Tenzin, in an island off the coast of the city. Once she realized how long the commute to the campus was, though, Korra knew she was on her own.

Luckily, she found the perfect roommates pretty much immediately. Their landlord had just raised their rent for the second time that year and their third roommate had skipped town, stiffing them on two months' rent and utilities. With one fell swoop Korra landed an apartment, a job at the coffee shop down the block, and the two best friends a girl could ask for. Witness Mako's willingness to take up a second job to cover the bills when Bolin's tips just couldn't quite make up the difference.

Korra, of course, was already juggling classes, homework and waitressing. Well, a girl had to be grateful. When Mako mentioned that he had taken that job at the assembly line, and could she cover his morning shifts at the cafe... She could hardly say no. That was how she'd found herself waking up earlier than she ever remembered to trudge down the block in the rain and open up _Rabbaroo Cafe_ at quarter to seven AM. And that was also the first time she saw Asami.

Mornings at the coffee shop had a totally different crowd of regulars. It was at least as busy as the lunch crowd but there was none of the jostling or the confusion. Ranks and ranks of suit-wearing men and women, peppered with a few teenagers in school uniforms, stepped up each in turn, gave her their order and stepped aside to wait by the counter for their drinks and their breakfast pastries. No one took a second longer to give their order than they had to; everyone was in too much of a hurry.

Korra sighed. No one wanted to chat with the cashier at seven in the morning. She was _so bored_.

Finally, at around eight, the line of orderly businesspeople started to peter off. Bolin showed up for his shift just in time to catch the tail end of it, smiling with more cheer than anyone should on such a dreary morning. Korra was just about to berate him for inconsiderate glee when she caught sight of the girl at the counter. Like most of the morning crowd she was wearing a suit, but her hair was trussed up in a messy knot held up by several pencils and her eyes...

"Hi!" she said, smiling brightly.

Korra smiled back. "Hi, how are you?"

"I'm great!" she said enthusiastically. "Uh, could I get two skim lattes, one skim decaf latte, one soy-milk chai, one green tea with ginger, and one summer fruits infusion with raw cane sugar?"

"Wow," said Korra. "Let me just--" she held out her hand for the note the girl was holding.

"Oh, I don't know," said the girl, pulling the note to her chest. "My handwriting is terrible."

Korra grinned and winked. "I'm sure I can figure it out. I'm an expert."

"Oh," said the girl, smiling awkwardly, "all right, I guess."

She plucked the note out of her offered hand and scanned it quickly. Nothing like as bad as her old tutor's hand, that was all loops and they all looked the same. She never could figure it out. This was actually pretty easy to read.

"Hey, Bolin!" she called out to get his attention. "Order!"

Korra ducked behind the counter to find the drawer full of extra sugar packets. The pink ones were helpfully labeled 'raw cane sugar' so she snatched a handful and tucked them into the fold of a cardboard cup carrier.

"Anything for you?" she asked the girl.

She looked flustered. "Oh, uh--"

Bolin was gesturing frantically at her.

"I'm sorry," said Korra. "I'll be just a moment. Think about it."

Bolin made grabby hands at her.

"What is it?" asked Korra, a little ticked off.

"Give her your number!" he whispered, flailing his hands.

" _What_?"

"You like her! She's cute!" said Bolin. "Just give her your number!"

"I can't do that!" said Korra, scandalized.

"Just write it on her coffee cup!" said Bolin. "She won't notice it until she's back at the office."

Korra shook her head and went back to the counter.

"I've decided," said the girl, smiling brightly. "I'll have a mocha latte."

"Coming right up," said Korra, who could feel her cheeks going all tingly.

"One mocha latte," she called out to Bolin, who wiggled his eyebrows in response.

She watched her out of the corner of her eye while she was taking orders from other customers. She stood and waited patiently for her order to arrive without drumming her fingers on the counter or self-consciously straightening her skirt. Later, during the lull between the morning crowd and the brunch crowd, Bolin came over and smacked her shoulder.

"Ow!" she cried out. "What was that for?"

"If you don't start dating soon you're going to die alone," said Bolin, wagging his index finger at her.

"Oh, yeah?" said Korra. "And what made you decide that she was the one who had to save me from a fate of loneliness?"

Bolin shook his head sorrowfully.

"Come on," said Korra. "You promised to show me how to use the milk foamer."  

[](http://oi46.tinypic.com/34j3fdj.jpg)   
Click to embiggen. 


End file.
